The idea that this Senator could be successful in his attempt to legislate the reinistatement of TV ads is absurd. Laughable even.

I don't see Lowe's actions as religious persecution. They are not saying that Islam is to be reviled. Only some of its followers. And let's face it: that can be said of every religion, present and past. The fact that they have decided not to market themselves on All-American Muslim is a marketing choice. They probably have more vocal "Christians" in their customer base than Muslims. The fact that Islam is the fastest growing religion in America means that this kind of marketing polidy is bound to change in the future.

The fact that some Christians seem to believe that all Muslims are evil speaks to their obvious ignorance and prejudice.

Oh I agree, but my feeling on the issue is still the same. It also doesn't bode well for a congressman to act like this.

And I agree with your comments, but you can insert ANY religion in the last sentence and it'd be perfect IMHO. ;) I personally know many people of all faiths and while I may agree/disagree/remain neutral on standpoints (including those of my own faith), I a. respect people's decisions, and b. don't demand they respect mine no matter what.

12-12-2011, 10:25 PM

Tilden

Re: All-American Muslim on TLC

I can't see how Lowe's is guilty of anything illegal in deciding to pull its ads. Companies pull ads all the time because a show presents ideas or situations that some groups find objectionable. If those groups are vocal enough, companies get nervous and the ads get pulled. When Ellen came out on the sitcom Ellen, I believe the show lost some sponsors as well. It can be viewed as capitulating to what a few, overly zealous groups are protesting, which can be seen as cowardly or racist or whatever, but it's not illegal, so far as I know. If Lowe's had ads that portrayed Muslims as terrorists, yeah, then they might be facing defamation charges, I suppose (I'm not a lawyer). But if other companies aren't breaking the law by pulling ads from shows because of customer protests, then neither is Lowe's, regardless of how valid or invalid those protests might be seen by others.

I think the appropriate response for those who don't like what Lowe's has done is to let them know they won't be shopping there and why they won't be shopping there. If Lowe's thinks they'll lose more customers because of yanking their ads than they did for running them, they may do an about face. But I doubt you can legislate where a business spends its advertising dollars. It would be too easy for Lowe's to say, sure, the protests may have been the catalyst for the ad withdrawal but we were thinking about doing it anyway, because we felt there were more effective ways to spend our advertising funds. I have no idea what the ratings have been for American Muslim, but a number of companies, for instance, have started doing more internet advertising than television advertising because they think it's more cost effective.

I've seen about an episode and a half of American Muslim. I'm pretty busy right now, and I didn't find it especially riveting, so I don't go out of my way to watch it. I didn't find it especially terrible either, but I like some other shows better, and I don't have time to watch everything, so I just haven't kept up with it. Maybe there are enough other viewers out there like me, who checked it out in the beginning but just didn't stick with it for lack of time or interest, and the ratings haven't been what Lowe's had hoped initially. I know they're saying it was the protest, but it could be that's just part of it.

For the record, I also don't shop at Lowe's and their decision doesn't make me want to shop there either. But then again, I'm also not the handy type, so I don't shop much at any of Lowe's competitors either. I do think they have the right to make the decision they made, however, and find it odd that the article indicated some were viewing it as a first amendment issue. The first amendment protects all kinds of speech, even if lots of people find it offensive. Instead of telling Lowe's they can't do what they've done, it seems to me it would be wiser and more effective to use the same freedom of speech to persuade Lowe's they've made an inappropriate decision. I used to shop at a Christian store that sold a variety of religious items, including music. As I play piano for services at a nursing home, I bought some music there one day. When I got home, I discovered that the store had put a flyer in with my music informing me how a "good Christian" should vote in the upcoming election. I didn't appreciate being told that I somehow wasn't a "good Christian" because I wasn't planning on voting that way, so I returned the music and I took my business elsewhere. I found what the store did was distasteful, so I don't shop there anymore, but I didn't feel they didn't have the legal right to include the flyer in my bag.

I stopped watching this show simply because like all the other reality shows, there's very little reality to them and applies to this show also. I started watching because I naively thought I'd learn something about a group of people I know very little about. Then I realized that it's very scripted like the rest.
I watch some, but not all, reality shows. None really give us an honest view of what these people are really like.
One of the show's regulars, Shadia states in an interview that "I wore a scarf for 13 years," she says. "I took it off because if I'm going to represent my religion, I want people to get the right image." So I'm not getting what I wanted to see." So I'm not getting "reality," no more than the rest of these shows.
The reality shows I do watch are more for laughs at the absurdity like Real Housewives than thinking all women from a certain area behave the way they are portrayed. In reality, no stereotype - Philly.com
I just don't find the show to be interesting.

12-13-2011, 10:05 AM

Tilden

Re: All-American Muslim on TLC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonlady

I stopped watching this show simply because like all the other reality shows, there's very little reality to them and applies to this show also. I started watching because I naively thought I'd learn something about a group of people I know very little about. Then I realized that it's very scripted like the rest.
I watch some, but not all, reality shows. None really give us an honest view of what these people are really like.
One of the show's regulars, Shadia states in an interview that "I wore a scarf for 13 years," she says. "I took it off because if I'm going to represent my religion, I want people to get the right image." So I'm not getting what I wanted to see." So I'm not getting "reality," no more than the rest of these shows.
The reality shows I do watch are more for laughs at the absurdity like Real Housewives than thinking all women from a certain area behave the way they are portrayed. In reality, no stereotype - Philly.com
I just don't find the show to be interesting.

That's kind of the way I feel about it. Other than finding out how the dates for Ramadan are determined (which I found out on my own, because I was curious), I wasn't really learning anything about Muslims in America that I didn't already know from other sources. My time is limited, there were other things I enjoyed watching more, so I stopped watching it. I think the fact that they're running it during the holiday season probably isn't helping viewership, just because so many people have so many obligations November through December that it's not the greatest time to try and start watching a new show too. It's also not the kind of show that requires sequential, consistent watching, as it's not a contest nor does it have a really strong running plot line where if you miss an episode, the rest of it isn't as easy to follow. That gives people an additional reason to watch it on a catch can basis or drop watching it altogether.

The fact that TLC chose to time its run with a very busy time of year makes me wonder if they knew it wasn't a particularly strong series, not because of the topic but just because it isn't all that engrossing. I think the idea was to show that American Muslims don't live lives tremendously different from the lives of lots of Americans, which is a nice message, but if they don't, then how much interest is there in watching a whole series about them doing things all the rest of Americans regularly do too? Maybe a special might have been a better idea than a series if that was the ultimate message they wanted to get across. Let's face it, most of TLC's hit shows have to do about more unusual situations--families with many more children than most; huge, elaborate weddings; people who face unusual challenges because of their size, pageant families etc. I'm not sure American Muslim really fits with the rest of their shows (not that I think their over-riding fascination with the extremely unusual has all that much to do with "learning," but it is what it is).

For the week though based on the Twitter. He might not be able to do it long term, and that will factor in.

12-13-2011, 10:19 AM

Tilden

Re: All-American Muslim on TLC

Quote:

Originally Posted by jadewarlock

For the week though based on the Twitter. He might not be able to do it long term, and that will factor in.

Thank you for the clarification. I kind of wondered if any one individual could afford to do that, unless that person ran a huge corporate empire or the advertising rates on TLC are pretty low.

12-13-2011, 10:25 AM

Debb70

Re: All-American Muslim on TLC

Some conservative groups don't understand that the fact you get information about a subject does not mean you are in agreement with the subject. IMO the more you learn the better. Staying ignorant about people, faiths, events, history, is valuable and necessary. Shutting things down, because you fear it or don't approve is dangerous IMO.

I wonder why the Kardashians continue to have sponsors. IMO that is pretty scary stuff.

Have any of you heard about the backlash of the woman on the show who wanted her husband to get rid of his dog? I haven't seen it yet. Apparently, it's made a lot of people pretty angry.

12-13-2011, 12:24 PM

MsDiva2007

Re: All-American Muslim on TLC

I know Shadia has alot people upset with her over the dog. I guess her husband had the dog for 10 years and the dog is 16 years old. I did feel bad for him when he cried,and I am not a pet person because I do have allergies of my own. Apparently you can't pray if there is dog hair around.

As far as Russell Simmons he is worth around $500 Million last time I checked.

12-13-2011, 01:40 PM

jadewarlock

Re: All-American Muslim on TLC

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsDiva2007

I know Shadia has alot people upset with her over the dog. I guess her husband had the dog for 10 years and the dog is 16 years old. I did feel bad for him when he cried,and I am not a pet person because I do have allergies of my own. Apparently you can't pray if there is dog hair around.

As far as Russell Simmons he is worth around $500 Million last time I checked.

From what I understand about Islam, dogs are seen as being unclean (similar to Judaism and pigs), and you can't pray with them around. There are other things that Islam requires that we would see as a bit strange and controversial (not including of course the negative connotations which I'll even admit are ludicrous).

I have also read the Koran, and honestly... there are phrases in there as in other religious work that people should be scared of. People talk about how evil the Crusades were and the like... please... read the Koran and how if you do not follow Islam you are an infidel and should be destroyed.

As far as Simmons, I think his activism speaks enough when he paid for the clean up of Zucotti park and supports the OWS movement. I personally think he may take a hit personally financially if he supports this long term.

Either that or he inside realizes that he may be playing with a possible backlash from buying ad space for this program. (Note, he might not be... but just one week is a bit telling. Ad space can be bought up to a month's worth).